During the construction of a bridge, building or other structure, it is common for workers to work and walk upon structural or architectural steel beams forming a part of the construction. Obviously, it is important but difficult to protect such workers and others from harm when they inadvertently slip and fall from elevated beams.
It is also important, for the purpose of controlling construction costs and facilitating rapid construction, that any fall protection system which is put in place to protect the workers be relatively inexpensive, relatively quick and easy to install, and later dismount, and cause little interference with the construction process itself.
Most conventional fall protection systems to which the present invention relates involve systems for supporting the worker with a safety cable that may be anchored and supported in various ways. Once a safety cable is anchored and supported, workers may obtain support by attaching themselves to the safety cable, as, for example, by way of a safety lanyard attached both to the cable and to a harness worn by the worker.
Unfortunately, in most superstructures where persons are called upon to walk and work upon elevated beams, there are few or no suitable anchoring points for attaching safety cables. Attaching the cables directly to the beams beneath the workers' feet could increase the likelihood of tripping, and could also increase the potential fall distance.
Even if there are elevated anchoring points in the superstructure, the location of those points could cause the safety cable to extend directly above the very beam upon which the worker wishes to walk and work, thereby hindering the worker's actions. In comparison to such anchoring points, it would be preferable, instead, to anchor a safety cable in such a way that, as the safety cable extends along the beam, it is suspended not just above the beam but also off-set slightly to one side of the beam, so that it will not unnecessarily hinder the worker as he or she works upon or walks along the beam's upper surface.
A means of providing fall protection with such an elevated but off-set cable positioning is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,897, wherein a safety stanchion employs both a first and a second lock means, with the first lock means depending upon properly torqued bolts (which could be subject to failure from loss of friction if worn or insufficiently tightened), and with the second lock means being mounted to a post and being somewhat complex, comprising, for example, a ratchet lock mechanism comprising a strap made of nylon or another synthetic material (which sunlight, chemicals or a nearby heat source, such as nearby welding, could render subject to failure). That previously disclosed safety stanchion is preferably used with a safety cable having an in-line shock absorber.
The present invention also provides a safety stanchion with an elevated and preferably off-set cable positioning. However, it does so with various other means, none of which, for example, require a ratchet lock mechanism or a nylon or synthetic strap as shown in the aforementioned art. The present invention also provides a safety stanchion having a post that preferably can, by flexing and by permanently deforming without failing, reduce and absorb at least some of the shock and sudden loading caused by a worker's fall from a beam, without the need for a safety cable having an in-line shock absorber.